1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tire pressure monitor.
2. Background Art
Tire pressure monitors incorporated in vehicles having pneumatic tires can be used to continuously or periodically measure the air pressure in the tires and to help alert the driver should the pressure in one of the tires fall below or rise above a predetermined value.
Tire pressure monitors typically include a housing which contains a circuit board, a sensor mounted to the circuit board, a power source such as a battery, and an antenna or other receiving device. The sensor includes an orifice that helps to sense the pressure of the tire. In the prior art, the sensor orifice faces the circuit board. To prevent the components within the housing from breaking away from the circuit board during tire rotation, it is known in the art to inject a liquid potting compound into the housing. The potting compound solidifies and encapsulates the components within the housing.
Some current tire pressure monitors that utilize potting compounds have experienced problems with the potting compound contaminating the orifice on the sensor. If the potting compound were to enter the orifice, the sensor port could become clogged and non-operative.
To combat this problem, one existing technology utilizes a gortex fabric that is cemented to the bottom side of the circuit board and covered by an adhesive. The gortex covers an orifice in the circuit board that is aligned with the sensor orifice. When the potting compound is injected into the housing, the compound flows around the gortex seal, preventing contamination of the sensor orifice. Although this solution helps to prevent clogging of the sensor orifice, it requires a more labor intensive method during assembly of the tire pressure monitor due to the addition of the adhesive and gortex fabric. In addition, it is possible that the components within the monitor housing can be subjected to bump and shock during the assembly of the gortex fabric to the circuit board orifice, causing displacement of the components.
It would be desirable to develop an apparatus and method that would reduce the amount of labor required in assembling tire pressure monitor systems while still providing a means for protecting the sensor orifice from contamination due to the potting compound.